Michigan sees fourth straight weekly decline with 15,578 COVID cases, 137 deaths

Michigan's hospitalization and new case rates declined for the fourth straight week, according to totals released Wednesday by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, after rising for six weeks previously.

The state added 15,578 cases and 137 deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, including totals from the previous six days.

The state reported an average of about 2,225 cases per day over the last seven days, a decrease from 2,636 cases per day a week prior.

On June 8, the state said it had added 18,453 cases and 131 deaths from the virus in the previous week. The latest total was an increase of six deaths. 

On Monday, the state reported that 809 adults and 21 pediatric patients were hospitalized with confirmed infections, a slight decline from 885 adults and 22 children last week.

Inpatient records were set on Jan. 10, when 4,580 adults were hospitalized with COVID-19. 

About 4.3% of the state's hospital beds were filled with COVID-19 patients and there were an average of 1,026 emergency room visits related to COVID-19 per day in the state as of Monday. That compares with 24% of hospital beds being full and 2,889 daily emergency room visits due to the virus in the first week of January.

Between June 6-12, about 11% of Michigan's COVID-19 tests returned positive. 

All Metro Detroit health departments are following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines to recommend indoor masking for public settings and K-12 schools as the rate of infection has grown from "medium" to "high."

Wednesday's additions bring the state's overall totals to 2,581,397 cases and 36,675 deaths since the virus was first detected here in March 2020.

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Ten Michigan counties remain at a "high" level for the increased burden on health care or severe disease: Baraga, Delta, Gratiot, Kalkaska, Macomb, Marquette, Monroe, Oakland, Schoolcraft, Washtenaw and Wayne. Another 30 counties have a "medium" transmission level, according to the state health department.

► For subscribers: Map shows where Michigan is seeing the highest COVID spread

Case counts are well below early January when the state set a new high mark with more than 20,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per day.

In Michigan, variants of the virus have moved at a high rate, proving more contagious than past variants and infecting both unvaccinated and vaccinated residents.

A new iteration of the omicron variant, BA.2, is now the dominant strain across Michigan and the country, but experts say another surge of cases is unlikely.

The Food and Drug Administration expanded its approval of remdesivir on April 25, making it the first COVID-19 treatment for children under age 12.

In Michigan, 298 cases of a rare inflammatory condition in children linked with the coronavirus have been reported to the CDC. About 65% of kids with the syndrome are admitted to intensive care units and there have been five deaths.

In Michigan, residents ages 30 to 39 currently have the highest case rate of any age group.

As of Monday, 62 new outbreaks were reported over the prior week. The majority, 37 outbreaks, were in long-term care facilities and senior assisted living centers. Another 13 outbreaks were in K-12 schools and seven were in daycare programs. The state is tracking 425 ongoing outbreak cases.

About 66%, or 6.6 million, state residents have received their first doses of a vaccine, and 60% are fully vaccinated. More than 231,000 children ages 5 to 11 in Michigan, or 28%, have received their first dose of the vaccine.

More than 3.1 million individuals, or 36.7% of the eligible population, have received a vaccine booster in Michigan and 5.2 million are fully vaccinated.

srahal@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @SarahRahal_